Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator should be in the final stages of their lifespan by now.
Although the old man before him was robust beyond his years, he was definitely still a mortal. How could he possibly know him?
Therefore, Li Yan had only been thinking about the mortals he had come into contact with before.
But the other party's cry of "Marshal" seemed to have triggered a certain memory in Li Yan. Countless images flashed through his mind like lightning.
Suddenly, his expression changed, his mind and soul shaking uncontrollably!!
'How is this possible? Wasn't that just a dream of mine? And it was absolutely a dream! Besides… besides, even if it were real, when I met this person in the dream, he was already over sixty, close to seventy. How could he possibly be alive now? By that calculation, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had taken pills would have perished by now. This… how could this happen!!'
For a moment, tempestuous waves surged in Li Yan's heart. He finally remembered who this person was.
It was a scene that had occurred back then in the second level of the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, in the Flame Palace, after he chose the pitch-black passage between the two paths.
At that time, misled by the Bright Fire Qilin, he had given up the golden passage and chosen to enter the pitch-black one. In the end, he could only "crawl" bit by bit in a strange posture through the endless darkness of the passage.
Finally, at a certain moment, his inner demon had arisen, causing him to fall completely into a dreamscape. There, Gong Chenying had become his wife, and Zhao Min had become a silver-armored general of the State of Meng.
And when he had reinforced "Fallen Immortal Slope," there was an old general guarding it named Cui Feng. That person was the spitting image of this old man, just a few decades younger.
To encounter this person in this world was something Li Yan would never have imagined, not even in his wildest dreams. No matter how hard he had wracked his brain before, he would never have thought to connect it to that dreamscape.
And only at this moment did a soft "huh?" sound from his side.
"So he was hiding his cultivation. He's actually a lightness skill master!"
Duke Cui only felt his palm pass through a phantom image. His fingertips seemed to touch a bit of clothing, but it also felt like an illusion. Then, the young man appeared on the other side.
He was very surprised by this, but the light in his eyes became even brighter. He had only used sixty percent of his strength just now, which had already taken into account the possibility that the other party possessed other peerless martial arts.
This test had indeed revealed the other party's strength, at least at the level of a top-tier first-rate master. This caused Duke Cui, who had not met a worthy opponent in a long time, to feel his fighting spirit surge.
On the other side, Li Yan's face was a mixture of uncertainty. He still found it hard to believe what was happening before him.
This gave him a feeling of terror that grew with further thought. Cold sweat seeped from his back, making him feel as if a pair of large hands were manipulating all these incredible events from behind the scenes.
He was clearly just in that pitch-black, boundless passage. Everything was a dream, and he had even been on the verge of death. How had it all become real now?
He was already hesitating about whether to capture the other party and search his soul, but he couldn't yet perform a Soul-Searching without harming the other party.
And most crucially, if there was truly such a powerful being manipulating this matter, Li Yan was certain he wouldn't find anything in the other party's soul.
Perhaps the moment he touched the other party's soul, it would self-destruct.
Before him, a figure flashed again, and an even more fierce and domineering force swept over.
"Cui Feng, stop now!"
Li Yan shouted in a low voice.
Hearing this, the fury in Duke Cui's eyes intensified. The other party was going to keep up the act to the end.
"Back then, I had you hold 'Fallen Immortal Slope' while I personally went to Green Mountain Pass to investigate. Do you still remember?"
The internal power in Cui Feng's palm was already gathering as he reached Li Yan's back. Hearing this, his movements couldn't help but pause.
Li Yan's familiar voice echoed in his mind, as if instantly taking him back several decades, to that domineering "Martial Saint" in the army giving him one command after another.
'Regarding that matter, the Marshal only summoned me alone to give the order. No one else should know…'
However, Cui Feng then snorted coldly.
"Now that you've been exposed, you're trying to stall for time and wait for reinforcements? A pity. As long as it's not a large army pressing down on us, they won't even be able to break into my back courtyard."
His thoughts raced, and he had already figured everything out. Although the Marshal had only summoned him alone for that matter, after the Marshal disappeared, he had begun to take over command of the army. Anyone with a mind to could piece these things together and deduce a thing or two.
This was the other party's delaying tactic after being exposed. But before he could make a move, Li Yan spoke again.
"Something is wrong. Why have the various armies of the State of Meng suddenly arrived all at once? One reason is to lure our main forces out. The second, could it be that there really is a traitor, planning to coordinate from the inside?"
Then his tone changed again, becoming somewhat similar to Cui Feng's.
"Marshal, Kong Xiao has followed you for nearly ten years. Back when you were just a centurion in the 'Wind-Hunting Battalion,' he was your subordinate. I don't believe there's a problem with him. It's most likely the enemy's divisive tactic. By doing this, even if we send our fastest scouts back to investigate, a round trip would take four or five days. This would stall our main army's full pursuit."
Then Li Yan's voice returned to his own.
"I had already weighed that possibility before. It was one possibility. Why do you think I let that Dongling Min go in the end…"
As he spoke, Li Yan slowly turned his body. He only saw Cui Feng's aged face twitching uncontrollably. The man had already lowered his hands, his eyes filled with disbelief as he stared intently at him.
"You… you… you… no… impossible, impossible. Weren't you said to have pursued that Dongling Min and perished together with her? And to have lived until now… lived… until now and still be so young?"
Duke Cui muttered to himself, his previous domineering air completely gone.
The words spoken by this person were exactly what the Marshal had instructed him with back then. Both the tone and demeanor were very similar to his memory.
Although he himself couldn't remember the exact words he had spoken back then, the content was definitely this, without a doubt. In this world, apart from the two of them, no one else could possibly know of this conversation.
"Of course, it's me, Cui Feng. I didn't expect you to be a Duke now!"
Li Yan spoke softly. This time, his words contained a trace of magical power, the sound entering directly into Duke Cui's mind.
This immediately roused Duke Cui, who had been somewhat dazed. But his eyes still revealed a look of disbelief.
"You really are Marshal Li, but your appearance…"
"After I was taken away by Dongling Min, when I woke up, she told me that my wife and child were actually not dead. But after she said that, she left. So I chased after her. Later, in my pursuit, I entered a boundless forest, which should be some dangerous place in the Great Green Mountains. It was filled with endless dense fog. And I was trapped there for who knows how many years. I was never able to find Dongling Min, nor could I find a way out! It wasn't until recently that I accidentally walked out. As for why my appearance hasn't changed, I don't know either. When I returned to the Imperial Dynasty, everything had changed. I learned of your news, and that's why I came here…"
Li Yan had no choice but to start fabricating lies. He wanted to figure out what was going on and did not act rashly. If he could avoid using force against mortals, he would.
Besides, as he had thought before, if all of this was being manipulated, the chances of him getting any information from a Soul-Searching were truly slim.
He had not known that such a bizarre thing would happen, so he hadn't felt the need to change his appearance in front of mortals.
Otherwise, if he had known, he should have appeared as a decrepit old man by now.
Sure enough, Duke Cui's eyes flickered incessantly as he listened, clearly not easily believing these things.
Helpless, Li Yan thought for a moment, then walked over to the huge map on the wall and pointed to a location.
"Fallen Immortal Slope. When I came to your aid, you said there were only over three hundred enemies coming from the west…"
Li Yan then recounted the troop deployment situation Cui Feng himself had described when he had gone over. As he spoke, the aura around Duke Cui surged.
Only Marshal Li, who was the commander back then, would know these details most clearly. Cui Feng would not have revealed his strategies for dealing with the enemy to his subordinates.
Even later, even if others could guess the troop deployments of both sides after the battle, Cui Feng never told anyone else the details. Yet, what Li Yan was saying were all details.
On the side, Li Yan was also racking his brains to recall the events of the dream. But he only remembered having contact with Cui Feng at "Fallen Immortal Slope."
Outside of the dream, he had never had any contact with this person. But he had to act as if he knew Cui Feng well, so that the other party wouldn't discover that he only knew about the events at "Fallen Immortal Slope."
So, this required verbal skill. Li Yan pressed on step by step in a short period of time, leaving Cui Feng no time to think.
Just when Li Yan felt he was about to expose himself and could not say anything else, Duke Cui's eyes finally began to calm down.
"You… you… your appearance is ultimately unconvincing. How about this, if you have the courage, then follow me!"
Duke Cui had also heard that there were strange places on this continent where herbs that could grant immortality grew, but he had only heard people talk about it and had never believed such things existed.
Now, Li Yan had said so many things that only he knew. For a moment, this bloodthirsty general also began to hesitate. After thinking about it, he made a decision.
"Oh, go with you? Why not!"
Li Yan didn't even ask where they were going and agreed directly. This took Duke Cui quite by surprise.
It was as if he once again saw the shadow of that domineering "Martial Saint" commander in the person before him.
Then, Duke Cui said nothing more and walked straight towards a screen on the side. Li Yan followed behind him, not too close and not too far.
This allowed Duke Cui to relax slightly. The "Li Yan" before him, at least for now, had no intention of sneak-attacking him.
Behind the screen was a large clothes rack, on which hung several robes of different colors. The rest was empty.
Duke Cui walked quickly to the clothes rack and stood still, but then reached back and felt around on the screen behind him.
Following his action, a series of "kaka-kaka" sounds of chains winding came from a corner of the wall not far away. Then, as the floorboards in the corner of the wall slid open, a hole was slowly revealed.
As the hole opened, a soft light emanated from below.
"A hidden mechanism passage!"
Li Yan, standing not far away, did not immediately approach, to show that he was waiting and would not take the opportunity to come forward with other intentions.
These kinds of hidden mechanism passages used by mortals were usually difficult to detect with Divine Sense because they had no restrictive fluctuations on them at all.
Unless your Divine Sense was extremely bored, and as you walked through the city, you scanned every corner of every house, and then after discovering an anomaly deep underground, you traced it back to find the exit.
A cultivator walking through a city like that would probably suffer a great loss of Divine Sense before long.
"Follow me down!"
When the hole was open enough for one person to pass through, Duke Cui glanced at Li Yan, who was still standing in his original spot, and then was the first to step onto the stairs.